High school boys basketball: First quarter carries Riverside to win over Chardon, 49-43

Riverside's Tim Keller shoots in the first quarter defended by Chardon's Andrew Gray. Riverside won Friday's PAC matchup 49-43 at the Riverside Community Field House.

Whether it was the excitement of senior night and the final home game, or the extra spice of playing a rival, Riverside couldn’t have asked for a better start to its PAC matchup with visiting Chardon on Feb. 21. Seven different players scored as the Beavers rang up a 22-6 first quarter on their guests.
If only Riverside could have bottled up that first quarter and used it for the rest of the game.
The Beavers scored just 27 more points over the final three quarters, but had just enough to withstand a steady, defensive-fueled Chardon comeback and hold on for a 49-43 victory.
For Riverside coach Adam May, imposition of tempo was key for both teams.
“Twenty-two points in the first quarter, and 27 for the rest of the game,” he said. “We actually ran our man offense against their zone press, because we don’t move and handle pressure well. It’s part of the growth process of Riverside basketball, understanding how to turn pressure into a layup. Obviously, something clicked at the end of the game, when we started getting layup after layup. Whereas in the first part of the third and fourth quarters, we were settling for contested jump shots. Defense creates offense, and we came out ready to play for the first eight minutes. I think what you saw tonight was us imposing tempo on them in the first quarter, and them imposing it on us after. We just have to learn to focus and play for 32 minutes before we can become a special team.”
From the Hilltoppers’ side of things, if the first quarter could be taken away, they would have won the game by 10 points.
“I’m proud of our kids,” Chardon coach Doug Snyder said. “Riverside is a rival, it was their senior night, and they came out and played a great first quarter. They got us down, 22-6, but we held them to 27 points for the last three quarters. They banked in a couple of 3s, we were 8 of 17 from the line. The first quarter was ultimately the difference.”
Joe McDonald scored all seven of his points for Riverside in the first quarter. McDonald, along with Mitch Tirabassi and Tim Keller, each drained a 3 in the opening stanza. Chardon began its comeback in the second quarter, holding the Beavers to six points while scoring 10 of its own and doing a better job of denying good looks at the basket. Riverside went into the half leading, 28-16.
The Hilltoppers made another run at the Beavers in the third, increasingly working the ball inside to Andrew Gray (game-high 12 points) and Drew McCartney, and coming up with six steals at the other end. Zach Weiland scored six of his eight points in the third period. An 8-3 Chardon run made it a 31-24 game, but Riverside’s Austin Hess responded with a 3 and a another basket inside the paint to stretch the Beavers’ lead back out to 12. A 3 from the wing by Brad Rinella beat the buzzer and gave Riverside a 39-26 lead going into the fourth.
Chardon (7-14, 4-9 PAC) turned the pressure up a few more notches in the fourth. The Hilltoppers’ Jason Janda came alive to score all eight of his points in the frame, but Riverside’s Ron Krsolovic had a pair of rebounds and a couple of layups to help keep Chardon at bay. Gray scored the game’s final three points, but the final six-point margin was the closest Chardon had gotten since the game’s opening minutes.
“Our defensive intensity picked up, we changed defenses at halftime.” Snyder said. “That allowed us to get the tempo a little more in our favor. Once we were able to do that, then we got it inside. Give Riverside credit. In the first quarter, they pressured our guards pretty well, and we couldn’t get the post-up plays we wanted to.”
Maxx Brubaker led Riverside (6-15, 6-8 PAC) with 10 points and eight rebounds.
“It’s always special to win senior night,” May said. “It’s always special to send them out with a win. I remember my senior night, I’ll remember it until the day I die. This is something they’ll always remember, whether basketball is their love, their passion, or something in between.”
Both teams will finish the regular season Feb. 22 with road games. Riverside travels to Perry and Chardon travels to Lakeside for its second of three meetings in 12 days with the Dragons.